I'm Transgender (FTM, no surgery or "T") and frankly, It doesn't matter if the person that did this was transsexual or not, nor does it matter that possibly both of them are into BDSM. What DOES matter is this farktard raped someone. That's what should be the focus of this trial, not the fact that the rapist is transsexual. and yes, there IS a difference between transGENDER and transSEXUAL. We Trans folk have enough trouble as it is being accepted and the LAST thing we need is to be constantly reminded that this rapist just so happens to be TransSEXUAL. They are a rapist, plain and simple.

Anyway, I'm not surprised the asshat man-to-woman transgender raped a woman due to her sexual orientation. However, rape can also be tied to power so sexual orientation may not always be in mind. OK, I'm bowing out of this one. Please, any transgenders join in to express your views here.

Okay. Trans woman well through transitioning and all that fun stuff, rape victim from childhood, undergrad college. Can confirm that some of us/them are weird indeed, and asshats like her give us translgbtqwertyghjkl* folk a bad name. The constant fragmentation and infighting within trans and lgbt groups doesn't help much either, on reddit/tumblar especially. It's hard to feel sympathetic with the ridiculous way that the sun portrays her, knowing that she raped someone, but it still isn't a respectful way to treat someone. I don't think news will be written like this is twenty years.

I'm gonna guess side effects of hormone treatments he started recently.

Yeah.. no. Mine and pretty much every other trans woman I've known have found that experience to be completely opposite of what you've described. Within a few weeks (days, for me) the male sex drive is extinguished and things down there begin to shrink. Androgen-blocking drugs convince your body to not produce testosterone (or in extremely low quantities) and shrink the testes/affect fertility, and the loss of spontaneous erections results in the penis being shorter. When erections did happen every ~month, they were painful and insufficient for sex.There is no way that hormones influenced her to commit rape.

Yeah... no.. Genital correction surgery is not the only arbiter of transition. It really has been one of the less helpful things during transition. The vast majority of people you encounter see your face, your presentation, your voice (well, hear) and dress attire. Very few people aside from my boyfriend concerned themselves with my genitals. Although pants fitting more comfortably is pretty nice. In short, genital surgery is usually one of the final surgical/transitioning "steps" that one takes. It requires jumping though quite a few hoops. The outcome of one surgery didn't change my sex/gender identity/what have you, transitioning from age 14 to 21 did.

Trial judge Peter Heywood has agreed to refer to Williams, who has legally changed his her name to Nadine, as "Miss" during proceedings.

If the defendant has a functioning penis which he she has allegedly used to penetrate and rape a woman, the you DON'T call the defendant Miss

Why exactly not? Would you refer to her by her gender had she raped him with something else?

It doesn't matter what you do to yourself on the outside, on the inside you are what you are. If you're confused about that, check your DNA and your chromosomes. If your psychology doesn't match your physiology, then fix the one that's broken. Hint: It's not your body that's the problem.

What makes DNA and chromosomes the sole deciding factor of her gender? Chromosomes can and usually do impact physical sex (what you're born with, basically) but are completely irrelevant to gender identity and presentation. I did fix the one that was broken. Go on and invent a way to drug away gender dysphoria, and in the mean time, we'll continue to transition so we can have fix what was wrong and have fulfilling lives.

/probably going to get so many notes attached to my handle//life story tldr: raped at 8, started blocking testosterone at 16, full hormone treatment and driver's license/papers switched at 17-18, facial and genital corrective surgeries last summer///slashies belong in threes

Why would there be a conflict? Both feminists and LGBTQ activists take the position that "rape is bad", no matter who does it. The only people who think otherwise are certain members of the Republican party.

Trannies are so confusing, they make my little head hurt. I'm tempted to just give up and treat them like human beings who are like anyone else. Nobody ever told me being a bigot would be so complicated!

It doesn't matter what you do to yourself on the outside, on the inside you are what you are. If you're confused about that, check your DNA and your chromosomes. If your psychology doesn't match your physiology, then fix the one that's broken.

Since I got involved in GLBT equal rights and PFLAG, I was surprised about transgenders, the toughest acceptance for me to deal with personally. After having a few beers with a transgender, I got it and was OK with it. Also, I learned that transgenders can have sexual orientation toward their original physical sex or the opposite of their original sex or be bisexual. Are you keeping up? I know this is confusing.

Anyway, I'm not surprised the asshat man-to-woman transgender raped a woman due to her sexual orientation. However, rape can also be tied to power so sexual orientation may not always be in mind.

/OK, I'm bowing out of this one.//Please, any transgenders join in to express your views here.

person X is accused of raping person Y. Person X is being prosecuted for it, and if found guilty will go to jail for it, just like countless other straight dudes have done. The fact that this person is transgendered is completely irrelevent.

I know you really really wanna spin this into an "all transgendered people are psycho-rapists" kinda thing, but the crimes of the individual are not transferable to the demographic they belong too. "Person accused of rape" is a suitable headline.

MadAzza:Awful Sheep: life story tldr: raped at 8, started blocking testosterone at 16, full hormone treatment and driver's license/papers switched at 17-18, facial and genital corrective surgeries last summer

I have a question, which I am asking in the most respectful way I can:

In your one-sentence mini-life story about transitioning, why did you start with being raped as a child? If you're born that way -- and I believe everyone is -- why is that relevant?

Because that way people can't disagree or negatively comment on her post without "attacking a child rape victim".

Sensationalist UK journalism again. It shouldn't really matter that the person's gender expression should make it into the headline of the article.

I will agree that I've met some nutjobs in the LGBT community, but I wouldn't say it's a higher percentage than straight folks. Though many transgender people have serious depression caused by their inner turmoil. For me, hormone therapy to remove testosterone has made me a much more pleasant person to be around, and my wife can finally enjoy riding when I'm driving because my road rage is gone. I don't like my man-parts, and now that they've shrunk and non-functional, I'm finally happy. Please don't judge the entire trans community based on this crazy person.

AirForceVet:Since I got involved in GLBT equal rights and PFLAG, I was surprised about transgenders, the toughest acceptance for me to deal with personally. After having a few beers with a transgender, I got it and was OK with it. Also, I learned that transgenders can have sexual orientation toward their original physical sex or the opposite of their original sex or be bisexual. Are you keeping up? I know this is confusing.

Anyway, I'm not surprised the asshat man-to-woman transgender raped a woman due to her sexual orientation. However, rape can also be tied to power so sexual orientation may not always be in mind.

/OK, I'm bowing out of this one.//Please, any transgenders join in to express your views here.

Not transgender, but sincerely surprised to see something other than a transphobic response this close to the top of the comments. Here, have a cookie.